Bill file and cabinet.



No. 809,006. PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906.

0. A. OSMONDSON.

BILL FILE AND CABINET. APPLICATION FILED 15.13.14, 1905.

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w a as N a is w; (Q $1 3 $1 U L 05177012414. flJi/Zfl/Zllffl/Z ventor Attorneys No. 809,006. PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906. 0. A. OSMONDSON.

BILL FILE AND CABINET.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 14, 1905.

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Attorneys N 0 S D N 0 M S 0 A Q an N BILL FILE AND CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED MAILM, 1905.

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Witness 3 UNITED STATES PATENT BILL FILE AND CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented I an. 2, 1906.

Application filed March 14, 1905. Serial No. 250,096.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, OSMOND A. OSMOND- soN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, have-invented a new and useful Bill File and Cabinet, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of paper-files and filing-cabinets, and has for its principal object to provide a means for keeping a record of business done on either a credit or cash basis, or the keeping of account-slips, bills, memorandums, letters, or

other papers in such manner that any desired slip or account may be readily found, and, further, to so arrange the mechanism as to economize space, a cabinet of compara tively small size being arranged to hold a very large number of files, each of which may carry any desired number of bills, slips, or other papers.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of-parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various-changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a filing-cabinet provided with slip or paper files constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are elevations of the plates employed at the opposite ends of the cabinet. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view, drawn to an enlarged scale, of one of the paper-files. Fig. 6 is a vertical section, on a still larger scale, of the upper portion of one of the paper-files. Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of the spring employed for holding the members of the file-clamp on the paper slips. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional View showing a portion of the cabinet resting on one end and illustrating also a number of files. Fig. 9 is a detail view of the paperguard forming a part of each file and showing part of the process of manufacturing the same. Figs. 1 0 and 1 1 are sectional detail views illustrating modifications of the file. Figs. 12 and 13 are detail perspective views of further modifications.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The device forming the subject of the present invention is designed principally to improve and simplify the keeping of a record of the credit business of an average retail merchant, although the mechanism may be employed for many other purposes and for the filing away of bills, memorandums, slips, letters, and other papers.

In keeping a record of business done on credit it is now the general custom among most merchants to employ duplicating salepads containing pages on which may be written an itemized bill of goods sold, each book being equipped with a sheet of carbonpaper in order that two copies may be made, one to be handed to the customer and the other to be retained in the book, and if a credit sale is made the duplicate slips are copied at the close of business each day into a day book or blotter, after which said copies are still retained in the book until nothing remains but the duplicates. The book is then usually discarded, being but seldom filed away and cannot ordinarily be found in case of dispute as to the accuracy or total of the bills of some customers. In carrying out the present invention provision is made for as sembling such duplicate copies in proper order, so as to enable the merchant at a moments notice to find any particular account and saving unnecessary bookkeeping by avoiding the rewriting of the duplicate salesslips into the day book or blotter.

The cabinet proper is preferably in the form of a rectangular metallic boX 10, which may be lined with cloth, and to the rear wall of the casing is pivoted a cover 11, the side edgespf which are arranged on lines inclining upward from the rear toward the front, and

to the inner wall of the front of the cover is secured a hasp 12, having a shoulder 13, that rests on top of a portion of the wall of the box or casing proper that is bent inward, as indicated at 15, in order to hold the cover in proper position. The front of the casing is provided with a depression 16, preferably formed by a die and affording a space for the reception of a lock-casing 17 and a pivoted pull 18, both the lock and pull being normally within the general vertical line of the front of said casing, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The hasp extends downward through an opening formed in the upper wall of the depression and passes within the lock-casing to be engaged by any suitable mechanism or by simple form of catch which may be opened manually.

At the rear of the cabinet is placed a plate 20, having a suitable opening 21 for a purpose hereinafter described, and at the front of said cabinet is arranged a plate 22, having in its upper portion an opening 23. This plate 22 serves as a guard for the front paper holder or file in the boX. The lower edge of the plate is connected by a hinge 24 to the bottom of the cabinet, so that the upper portion thereof may be swung backward against the contents of the cabinet.

Each of the paper-holding clips or files is of the character shown more clearly in Figs. 5 and 6. The base of each file is in the form of an approximately rectangular plate 30, formed of sheet metal and having a continuous angular flange 31 for the purpose of preventing buckling or bending. The outer paper-retaining clip 33 is also formed of sheet metal and may be provided with ribs or corrugations of any desired character for stiffening or strengthening the same. This clip has a comparatively long clamping jaw and a shank or handle 34 of reduced width, and the base and outer clip are connected together by a spring 35, preferably formed of springsteel and of the construction best illustrated in Fig. 7. The spring is bent upward at one end to form an impaling-tooth 36, that passes through the account or other slips, and said tooth is arranged in a plane oblique to the general plane of the file and passes through an opening 37, formed in the base 30, the relative positions of the several teeth in successive files being such that the tooth of a file to the rear will enter the opening 37 of a file in front, so that the whole may be nested or compactly arranged. The base is provided with a second opening 38, and the spring after passing through said opening 38 is bent in approximately sigmoidal form and passes thence through an opening or slit 40, formed in the upper clip 33, a pair of laterally-extended lugs 41 on the spring serving as a means for preventing relative longitudinal movement of the spring and upper clip. The upper clip is further provided with a slit or opening 42, and the metal between these two slits is depressed to form a seat for the portion 43 of the spring, so that the latter will not project beyond the outer face of the clip. After passing through the slit 42 the end portion of the spring bears against the rear face of the clip and is provided with an opening 44 for the passage of atongue 45, that is formed by partly punching out and bending over the metal of the clip in order to firmly lock the spring in place. In order to permit the full range of downward movement of the handled end of the upper clip, the base-plate 30 is provided with an opening 46, immediately in alinement with the tongue 45, so that the shank or handle end of the clip may be fully depressed in order that its front end may clear the impaling-tooth 36 to permit the insertion or removal of the slips. The upper portion of the flange 31 is provided with inbent tongues 48, which serve, in connection with similar tongues 49, formed by partly punching out the base 30, to receive and support a name-slip or a card or strip of paper bearing the name of the customer or the salesman or a suitable indexmark or other distinguishing character for indicating the contents of the file, and, if necessary, this portion of the base 30 may be eX- tended upward, as shown in Fig. 10, in order to expose the name or indicating card above the top of the upper clip.

To facilitate the introduction of files into the cabinet, the lower edge of each file is ar ranged on a slightly curved or inclined line, as indicated at 54, and at this point spacinglugs are also formed at each side of the files. These spacing lugs are of a height about twice the height of the flange 31 and are formed by bending the metal over and downward in the manner more clearly shown in Fig.5. The height of the lugs is about equal to the distance between the rear face of the plate 30 and the outer face of the auxiliary clamp member when the latter is parallel with the base 30, as shown, for instance in. Fig. 8. In some instances the lugs may be formed by partly cutting out the metal of the base to forma tongue and bending the latter, as shown at 55 in Fig. 12, or the lug may be in the form of a solid cube, soldered or otherwise secured in place, as shown in Fig. 13.

When a number of files areplaced in the cabinet and pressed together, the paper-clip member 33 is forced to assumeapositionpan allel with the base-plate 30 and ordinarily will not clamp upon the slips or other sheets carried by the file. The sheets, however, will be held in place by the impaling-tooth and as soon as a file is withdrawn the spring 35 will act to force the clip to proper clamping position, so that when the file is wholly withdrawn all of the strips of paper will be firmly held.

In order to retain the free lower edges of the slips in place, a spring-guard is employed. This guard is formed of a strip of metal, constructed in the manner best shown in Fig. 9, comprising a central body portion 61' and arms 62 of somewhat less width than the bodyportion. These strips are punched out flat, and the arms 62 are then bent at right angles to the body portion in order that the latter will lie in a plane above said arms, as will be apparent on reference to Fig.8. The end portions of the arm 62 are each confined in place by a pair of spaced tongues 63, formed by partly cutting out the metal of the ITO soacoe base, and between these tongues the side Fig. 11 to approximately the plane of the lugs 55 in order to properly space the files, and these, if necessary, may take the place of the lugs.

When the files are placed in the cabinet the rear portion of the-spring, or that portion between the two openings in the base'-plate,will project into the openings 37 of the upper clamp member, said openings being of a suitable shape and size to receive them, and the projecting portion of the spring of the rearmost file will extend into the opening 21 of the plate 20. The files fit more or less snugly, being in practice ab out three-sixteenths of an inch in thickness, while a space of about onefourth of an inchwill be alloted to each of the files, so that some of them may be allowed to expand in order to receivealarger number of papers or slips. The impaling-teeth are so arranged that the projecting end of one tooth will extend into the opening formed in the base portion of the file next in front, as will be apparent on reference to Fig. 8, which shows the cabinet placed on end and containing a number of files.

With a device of this character accountslips or other papers may be filedaway in such manner as to occupy a minimum amount of space, while the arrangement is such that any particular file and its contents may be quickly withdrawn and the slips carried thereby examined, and by a proper arrangement of the files in alphabetical or other order and the arrangement of the slips in similar manner under either the ordinary alphabetical, vowel, or numerical index, the slips may be easily and quickly found.

Having thus described the invention,what is claimed is 1. In filing devices, a main clamp-plate formed of sheet metal and provided with a continuous edge flange, the flanges at the opposite sides of the plate being approximately ataright angle to suchplate, while the flange at the lower end of the plate is formed by curving or inclining the sheet metal from the rear face to approximately the edges of the side flanges to form a relatively sharp introducing edge, and a secondary springpfessed clamp supported by said main clamp ate.

P 2. Infiling devices, a main clamp-plate having a continuous edge flange, the lower portion of said plate being arranged on a curved or inclined line to form a relatively sharp introducing edge, and means projecting outward from the plate at points near the opposite lower corners thereof to space the clamp of which it forms a part from the next adjacent clamp.

3. In filing devices, a main clamp-plate, a secondary clamping member, and a spring connecting the two clamping members and having one end arranged to form an impaling-tooth.

4. In filing devices, a main clamp-plate having a continuous edge flange, the lower portion of the side flanges being extended outward and thence bent transversely to form spacing-lugs, and a secondary springpressed clamp supported by said plate.

5. In filing devices, a main clamp-plate having a continuous marginal flange, a secondary clamping member, and a spring connecting the two clamping members and having one end arranged to form an impalingtooth.

6. In a filing device, a main clamp-plate having a continuous marginal flange, a secondary clamping member having an enlarged opening, and a spring passing through openings in the two clamping members and connecting the same, that portion of the spring to the rear of the main clamp-plate extending into the opening of the secondary clamping member.

7. In filing devices, a main clamp-plate, a secondary clamp plate, both plates being provided with parallel slits, and the metal between the slits of the secondary clampplate being depressed to form a pocket, and a spring extending through the slits and seated in the depressed portion, one end of the spring being arranged to form an impalingtooth.-

8. In filing devices, a pair of clamping members having parallel slits, a spring extending through the slits and connecting said members, the rear end of the spring being seated under the secondary clamp and being provided with an opening, and a securing-tongue formed by stamping out and bending the metal of the secondary clamp, said tongue extending through the opening of the spring and holding the latter in place.

9. In filing devices, a main clamping member having a continuous marginal flange, tongues projecting from the flange and arranged parallel with the plane of the clamping member, auxiliary tongues formed by stamping out and bending the metal of said clamping member, all of said tongues forming a receiver for a name-card or the like.

10. In a filing device, main and secondary I clamping members, and a projecting impaling-tooth extending through an opening in the main clamping member and disposed in a plane oblique to the plane of the clamps, the opening being of such size as to receive a number of impaling members and permit nesting when a number of clamps are assembled.

11. In a filing device, a main clamping member, a secondary clamping member, both clamping members having parallel slits, and

the metal between the slits of the secondary clamping member being depressed, a springstrip extending through the slits and seated in the depression, an intermediate portion of the strip extending between the two clamps, and projecting lugs or shoulders on said strip for preventing independent longitudinal movement of the same.

12. In filing devices, amain clamping member, an auxiliary clamping member, and a guard having side arms, there being tongues formed by stamping out and bending the metal of the main clamping member, said tongues engaging with and holding the arms in place.

13. In filing devices, the combination with a main and auxiliary clamping member, of a guard, having crimped side arms, and holding-tongues stamped from the metal of the main clamp and bent over said armsv at points on opposite sides of such crimped portions.

14. In filing devices, the combination with main and auxiliary clamping members, of a guard, including a cross-bar and side arms, the cross-bar being bent over to form an engaging portion in a plane above the plane of the side arms.

15. In filing devices, the combination with main and auxiliary clamping members, of a guard formed of a strip of metal, the opposite ends of which are bent at a right angle to th central or body portion of the strip.

16. In filing devices, a main clamp-plate having a continuous edge flange, lugs adja cent to the edges of the plate, and a secondary spring-pressed plate supported by said plate, the lugs and spring-pressed plate forming spacing members for a number of assembled filling devices.

, In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

OSMOND A. OSMONDSON.

WVitnesses:

W. M. JUsTEs, Jr., WM. E. Ross. 

